


Fish Out Of Water (Mer AU)

by CatSaucEe



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mer AU, Some Fluff, Trauma, mermaid au, okay there will be fluff but probably not for the first few chapters, other characters will come in one by one, sort of empurata au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22755901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatSaucEe/pseuds/CatSaucEe
Summary: After a fateful encounter, Megatron takes in a very hurt Optimus, banished and chased out of Cybertron, into his Kingdom, Kaon. But the merfolk of Kaon don't seem to like that Megatron's brought in a new problem on top of their problems, and can't seem to see eye to eye with a mer who's little to no help. But both are just as stubborn, and are ready to prove people wrong and piss off a couple more.-The whole story is a huge canon divergence from the actual events of the animated series, while there will still be some characters will make their appearances
Relationships: Breakdown/Knock Out, Lugnut/Strika, Megatron/Optimus Prime
Comments: 28
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Another TFA fic.... even though I have others........ yikes  
> This will probably be a slow update fic, an idea I had, but definitely love it, because I like to put Optimus in angst situations, and if I can, Megatron :)

Optimus was unsure as to how far he was from home. And even more unsure as to how long he had swam.

_Keep swimming. Keep swimming. Keep swimming._

He was tired, confused, and he hurt. He hurt a lot. That he could tell, by the whiff of blood in the salt water. But it was overridden by the need to survive, to escape. So with a little more of what he had, he swam faster.

 _Keep swimming. Keep swimming. Faster. Faster._ **_Faster._ **

Optimus soon came across a large canyon, a pit deeper than sea bed level, and had a maze of pillars, rocks balanced on top of its tips dangerously and little to no life could be seen swimming around it. It was unknown to him, and if unknown to him, definitely unknown to the mers chasing him down. He only stared, unsure of entering unknown territory, and unknown danger.

Suddenly, a harpoon whizzes past Optimus, scrapping past his skin and tearing it open in one clean cut and lodges itself into a boulder. He hissed, and just as quickly covers the wound with his hand. Frag it all, an unknown pit would be far more safer than getting caught! Without a seconds hesitation, he heads towards the canyon and dives deeper into its murky depths.

Optimus maneuvers through the pillars, each more unexpected than the next, and the deeper he went, the darker it got. The only thing guiding him was intuition and his hyper sensitive senses only heightened from fear. But despite that, Optimus could still hear the clicking, and the aggressive snarling from them.

He prayed to Primus that they'd lose him, or at least if they had caught him, they'd grant him a quick, painless death. Primus at least grant his wish that the pain would stop. Another harpoon stopping him from fleeing seems to be Primus' answer to his prayers. Before Optimus could turn to escape, something lunged at him and snarls, effectively pinning Optimus to a wall. Claws grab onto Optimus' arms and sink into his flesh, drawing more blood. Optimus shrieked in pain, and tries to quieten his cries but it comes out in pained whines and despite the pain, he jerks his body, trying to to get away but the claws have buried itself too deep.

"Optimus Prime, there's no where to run. So you either come back with us or we'll do something worse..." The mer threatens with a choice, though the mer herself knows what the only choice would be, and she knows that Optimus understands as well.

Optimus, however, wants neither.

With all his might, Optimus grabs onto the mer as hard as he can, leans in, and sinks his teeth into her, piercing her skin and it soon sends the mer howling. She immediately withdraws her claws, and on instinct, she strikes at whatever hurt her, which so happens to be Optimus. And what she so happens to strike, is one Optimus does not see coming. A swift strike, and before Optimus could even blink, his right eye is a victim to pain.

A scream escapes Optimus and his hands shoot up to cover his eye. A panic rises out of Optimus as he tries to see out of his right eye, only to be met with black, unable to figure out if it was blood or.... Something else. He stumbles about, unable to process his surroundings and he slams into a pillar, a newfound ache shooting up his back. It was only the unusual falling of rocks hitting him from above that snaps Optimus out of his panic, and he looks up.

The pillar tilts from its disturbance, and it sends the nesting rocks tumbling, crashing against its adjacent pillars and soon, pillars and rock formations start to fall, crashing down like dominos, coming down on one another.

The newfound threat sends Optimus swimming away, unsure of his direction and as to if the mer had followed him. He slithers past falling rocks, collapsing pillars and all around him, the world seemed to cave, until suddenly, a darkness descends upon him and Optimus turns to look, only for a split second to see a hint of light before a large mass of rocks piling in on him. In his last moments, he shields himself with his arms, and darkness greets him.

-

Optimus came to, groggy and confused.

Though he still assumes he's unconscious from the lack of light. Laying still, it takes him a while to process the events that have happened and for him to register his surrounding of rocks. Once he gathers himself, he shifts, only to wince and a sharp pain shoots through his entire body.

No sooner, he feels the weight of the rocks on him, heavy and panic inducing. It takes all the will power in him not to start panicking again and he carefully tugs at his arms, ignoring the almost numbing pain and wiggles it from its place. He carefully tucks his arms against the boulders and with a great push, he manages to shove a few boulders away from his face. The boulders tumble down on their own and make way for Optimus' face, allowing soft hints of light to shine on him.

The light, though soft, seemed to be harsh against Optimus' eyes and he squinted. A little longer to adjust to the light, and he proceeded to wiggle himself out of his predicament. He manages half his body above the rubble and his arms finally get to breathe, though he could not say the same to his tail, unable to move them in the slightest. He tried again, attempting different angles and twists in an attempt to free himself. But all attempts faltered, and with every growing second, Optimus seemed closer to panic, afraid of being stuck, halfway to the allspark, and alone.

Alone.

Optimus' twisting soon became trashing as he cried against the wounds, bleeding from his movements and his broken body. He began his full blown panic and he let out broken sobs, crying for the rocks to let him go. But no matter what, his tail remained stuck, immovable and rooting Optimus to the empty ocean.

He knew he probably should not, especially if any Autobot mer were still roaming, trying to look for him. But panic came after the thought, and he opened his mouth to let out a distress call.

It came out more like a screech, a high pitched call, a couple octaves higher than that of chirping. His throat was strained and he was close to crying, but still kept the call in mind as to how he was taught. Optimus kept calling, louder and louder, hoping some wandering mer would chance upon him. His fists clenched, digging into his own palm as he called out again and again and again, for however long it took. But with every blood lost, Optimus felt himself slipping, and the world became a fuzz little by little. 

Finally, some part of him caved and his calling ceased, nothing coming out of his throat and he slumped. He was broken, bruised, hurt and tired, and all he could do was lay. With a final attempt, he lets out a soft cry, and he slips from consciousness.

-

A sigh escapes from Megatron's lips as he swims through the empty sea, accompanied by Strika. He could at least thank her for keeping quiet during his swim. He needed it right now.

Kaon had been hectic. More so the situation concerning their rations. His loyal followers, no matter how loyal, always had something to complain about. But now, it had been much more serious. It seemed that their usual hunting locations have been deserted for months, possibly due to the migrating period of most fishes they hunt. But for how long this time? And in addition to that, the stock they've kept in Kaon seemed to be dwindling. While Kaon had faced such situations before, they had never had something as dire as this, and it was up to the smarts and charm of Lord Megatron to figure out a solution.

This ended with Megatron going on a long swim to somewhere quiet and deserted, away from questions to think. For now, the merfolk would just have to deal with krill or they'd face his wrath (usually, a warning snarl shuts them up). And no, they could not cannibalize each other, much to the protest of Star-fragging-scream.

"We should head back soon My Lord. It will soon get dark," Strika speaks, stopping in her tracks. "You can go on ahead Strika, I fair well in dark waters and have done so before," Megatron answers, waving a hand as if to chase her away, but Strika stays. "I don't believe I should leave you alone least something attacks." 

This makes Megatron scoff and cock a brow at Strika, "As if any creature would want to attack a mer this big." It earns an eye roll from Strika. He could at least be casual around Strika, and likewise. Strika eggs him on, "Besides that, the people would rather have their Lord back reassuring them." Megatron lets out a frustrated huff, "Oh please, they can go one day without me. I have faith that Lugnut and Blitzwing can keep Starscream at bay-"

Megatron's fins perk up, aware of something. It stops him mid sentence as he blinks. Strika stares at him questioningly.

"My Lord?"

He focuses, scanning the sea. Straining his audials, he tries to pick the sound in the silence. And he hears it.

"My Lord, is everything alright?" Strika asks yet again, this time arming herself with her harpoon, "If it's danger, we should leave." Megatron finally turns, looking at Strika with an amused, yet slightly judgmental look, "If anything, I can fight off whatever wants to attack me." He pauses, "it was a distress call."

Strika straightened herself, and looked around, "I don't hear anything...." Megatron all but insisted, "I do, it's really soft, far away. But it's not a decepticon one..... It was of Autobot origin." Immediately, Strika snarls, clearly no longer concerned and if anything, quite the opposite. "Then we don't have to worry ourselves over some Autobot who couldn't save themselves. All the more better for us!" Megatron pointedly ignored Strika, and swam towards the call. "It was more than distress. It was painful, strained. And it was full of panic. If anything, Autobot or otherwise, they cannot hurt me. They sound very weak." 

Strike grumbled. Even if she were to protest, she knew Megatron would persist, so she might as well be there in case something really did happen. And so she swam alongside her Lord.

They soon came across what seemed like a collapsed structure. Clearly something had disturbed it and all there layed was rubble. It might have been beautiful once. The cries had long ceased, only having stopped when they spotted the canyon. Now it was up to Megatron and (reluctantly) Strika to search for the distressed mer. They swam over the rubble, slow and observant, trying to see if they could spot any mer buried under the rubble. If anything, no mer should have been able to survive such a disaster. Megatron tried to pick out any noise, straining his audials best he could, but nothing. Not a single soul as far as both could see.

"We should head back my Lord," Strika tried, "I believe no mer would get out of this alive. Even so.... They'd be minutes away from death." Megatron frowned, listening closer, "I was sure I heard something. Believe me, I-" He paused.

His audials perked, and this time he made out a very soft, defeated cry.

"This way," Megatron muttered and he swims towards the call fast. Strika follows from behind and he does not wait for her. They soon chance a hill of a rubble. And underneath it all, he catches it.

"Frag..." Strika mutters callously as she sees the mer as well, unsure if they are dead or not. Megatron approached the mer from a distance, only able to make out the colour, a shiny red and blue, though brutally ruined from numerous bruises, open wounds and blood. Alot of it, floating around the mer. The tail had been buried under the rubble, possibly crushed.

"It's pointless," Strika finally spoke after minutes of silence in observation, "The mer's halfway to the Allspark. There's no point in trying to dig them out of it." Megatron let out a small noise of annoyance towards the fact.... Which was correct. The mer looked like they would not make it. And even then, looked already dead. "Maybe... You're right..." Megatron relented, and sighed.

Just then, as he was about to turn, the mer seemed to move, only ever so slightly, you could have missed it. But the mer's eyes blinked open, though weak. They seemed to be in a daze, almost without life, and Megatron and Strika stilled.

The mer's eyes landed on the two, only widening a bit and with a weak, pained attempt, cried softly. It almost did something to Megatron's spark and he frowned. The mer tried to cry out their distress call, but all that came out was a throaty gasp. In one final attempt to get them to help, the mer lifted a hand, trying to call them, pleading. But no sooner, the hand dropped to its side and the mer gave up consciousness completely.

Megatron stared at the mer, drifting closer. The mer, despite everything, tried to call out to them, most definitely unsure that they were Decepticon, not that the mer cared. How long had they been there? Primus forbid, how long had they been bleeding?

He wanted to live.

"Strika," Megatron managed, "Help me out and get the mer out of the rubble." Strika let out an indignant noise, "What?!" Megatron only swam forward, suddenly aware of how small the mer was when he got close. He carefully pried off the rocks on top, trying not to disturb the pile further least it crushed the mer more than it already did. "You're helping out an Autobot! Even worse, we can't bring him back, not with food shortage and the fact that thousands will think otherwise helping him."

Megatron suddenly let out a warning growl, and Strika froze."Strika," he growled and did not stop what he was doing, "I think you've seemed to forget that I'm your Lord. And if anyone dared to say anything about where my loyalties lay and, Primus forbid, insinuate that I'm a traitor to the cause, I'd gladly throw them to whatever pit of the deep sea and let the creatures devour them. So Strika. Help me with the boulders." He paused, before adding, "It's an order."

A long silence. And a sigh.

"As you wish Lord Megatron," Strika yielded and swam to help Megatron, managing the heavier boulders. "But you'll have to explain it to the cons," Strika mentioned with just as much formality.

"And I'll tell them to frag off and stick it up theirs."

-

“….Dama-….-obably not goi-…..-eal.”

“Surpri-…..-ill alive.”

Something.... Or someone speaking stirred Optimus into waking, though eyes still closed. Wait. Opened? Was he dead? Was he alive? He no longer felt pressure on his tail, and nothing seemed to be weighing him down, although something seemed to suffocate his skin and itched him. He finds that his fingers can move, and it sets in that he is definitely not dead. A blink or two, and it occurs to him that something is covering his eyes. He heaved a small sigh of relief. Nothing had happened to him. He proceeds to remove whatever was covering his face.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Something grabs his arm and in that instant, he recalls the previous events. He was being chased. And a boulders were falling on him, and he seems to remember two figures approaching him before he faints.

Optimus connects two and two, and his body reacts.

He throws both hands towards the assaulter and shrieks, attempting to catch them off guard and trashes from where he laid. Gracelessly, he tumbles from his side and crashes to the ground. That hurt more than it should, a fire of pain shooting through his body but it does not stop him from scampering to wherever was farthest from the threat. Another hand tries to grab him, but he immediately scratches at them, earning a restrained yelp from them. “Primus- What the frag!” The voice cried and he uses that voice to swim away from said direction.

“They found me,” Optimus panics internally and slams into a wall on his way, making him stumble but he continues his escape and scrambles through the pain, “They’re going to kill me they’re going to kill me, especially after that,” He tries to scratch whatever was blocking his view, but it clings to his face, “they can’t kill me, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die-“

Optimus’ escape comes to a halt when he finds that he has run himself into a corner, and he can hear weapons hitting the floor, and the sound of mers surrounding him. “BACK OFF!”, Optimus snarled and bared his fangs, a display of aggression to mask his fear. And he was very afraid. He tries to swipe at what is in front of him, but it misses many marks. Though it seems no one dares get close. All except for one brave mer who managed to grab at his wrist, and it dug deep. Optimus lunges at it, sinking his teeth into the flesh and it gets a scream out of them and many swear words, but it does not let go, so Optimus latches on, digging both claw and teeth into it, anything to make them let go. He hears a shout and a call to someone, but Optimus is too caught up in his distress to know who. He feels a cry breaking through.

A sharp sting in his arm makes Optimus trash even more, and the arm lets go. Optimus tries again to escape, crashing into what was possibly a table as the heavy legs of it break. Heaviness washes over him and he collapses, the effects of an oncoming drowsiness setting him. He’s terrified, and he pleads. “I don’t… want to die,” it almost comes out as a croak, ”… I…don’t…-an to die….. I…. -on’t…. ”, and he sleeps in his sorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're a fragging idiot Megatron!!"

The indignant shriek of one Starscream pierces through the audials of a very annoyed and irritated Megatron. "Of all the mers, Lord fragging Megatron takes in an Autobot" Starscream cries, his last words layered with particular venom. "Well at least now I know how much more capable I am of restraint than you Lord Megatron." Megatron knows what he was insinuating, and really did not want to have this conversation with Starscream.

The past 30 minutes- not even one hour- had been a mad fest for his people (and drama if you will). Once one mer sees the tiny mer in their Lord's arms, many more start pouring in to the City Square to take a look on Megatron's new catch. However, one look at the heavily scarred, yet obvious Autobot tattoo on his arm sends the town into chaos.

Turns out Kaonians can be pretty creative. Plenty called him a spy and an assassin, sent to take down Lord Megatron and Kaon from within. Others suggested that he was here to gain favour under the orders of the Autobot Council. He heard a mer call him Megatron's new pet, and he found himself frowning at that. A snap at them to back off shut some of them up for good, and they parted for him to swim through. Though he hears them get back to their theories and gossiping.

Lugnut, while ever so loyal, rightfully has his doubts as well.

"L-Lord Megatron, while your actions are very noble... I must ask you to reconsider what you're doing!" Lugnut starts, "We don't know who the mer is, and we don't know what he will do! Allow me to dispose of the soon to be corpse before he does you any harm!" Strika scoffs, folding her arms, "As if I haven't been attempting to convince as well...." 

The guards come running in just as Strika finishes, escorting Kaon's most infamous doctors, along with a cloth made bed held up by two guards on each side. He turns to Lugnut. "As you can see, I'm still well, and there's no need for concern over a weakened mer trying to so much as put a scratch on me. Even then, I would have guards stationed to ensure that he does not try anything. Which also includes you Lugnut." He places a hand on Lugnut's shoulder, "I believe you'll do a fine job, and I trust that you'll do it well." 

While undoubtedly sugar coated, Lugnut accepts the praise and puff out his chest in pride, "I will not fail you Glorious Lord Megatron!" Beside him Strika sighs in annoyance at a game well played.

"So what did you bring in this time?" Hook asks and takes one casual glance over the mer in Megatron's arms. "Leave him here." Megatron carefully places the mer in the bed, trying not to disturb him and his injuries as much as possible. "Found him under a rubble. Seemed to be under there for quite some time. His face is injured as well," Megatron explains. The red mer beside Hook lets out a small hum and taps his manicured claw on his chin.

"So you picked up a mer and take him back to Kaon as a pet...." Knockout concluded.

Megatron gritted his dentae, "Primus you mers and your imaginations......No." He does not want Knockout of all mers to interpret his answers callously and start gossiping about it.

Hook does a quick check over the mer, a finger pushes the mer's eyelid up and whispers a curse, "Frag...." Megatron immediately leans towards the doctor, "Can he be healed?" Hook does not waste time and proceeds to the med bay, Megatron following along. "The short answer is, he'll live." Hook pauses for a while. "The long answer is, while he will live, there are other things that... I probably can't help, and I don't know until I can give him a full examination in the med bay." When they arrive at the doors of the med bay, Hook turns to look at Megatron, "I suggest you leave us to do our work and we'll get to you on his condition." Megatron watches them immediately get to work, tubes and needles and wheels the mer into the med bay before Megatron could say another word, and the door shuts before him.

Strika looks at Megatron staring dumbfounded at the door, seemingly a bit lost. She gets his attention with a hand on his shoulder, "Standing there will do nothing, let us return to our work." Surprisingly, Megatron listens. Although he hesitates. He takes a few more seconds to look at the door, and he turns slowly to accompany Strika. "What kind of of work do we even have..." Strika smirks and pats the back of Megatron, "What do you think? The citizens have plenty to complain."

Megatron's attention returned to the prattling Starscream and he is reminded of what he was about to do. As menacingly as he can, he titled his head to glare at the mer, who appeared to suddenly be aware of what Megatron was capable of. Starscream shrunk back and he nervously laughed, "O-obviously I wouldn't dare question your actions My Lord! I was just... merely concerned." Megatron smugly grinned at him, and warned him with a low growl, "No need for your concern, Starscream. I'm perfectly capable of handling this myself. If these scars on my body don't prove anything else...."

Starscream, unable to come up with anything, shuts himself up. It leaves a satisfied grin on Megatron. He still has not lost his touch on Starscream.

Suddenly, the doors to the room burst open, and in swims a guard, looking as if she ran a mile. As if she suddenly remembers who she's standing in front of, she straightens herself and tucks her weapon at her side. "L-Lord Megatron!" She manages, "Hook requests that you go to the Med bay immediately!" Megatron tilts a brow and she continues, "Something happened. And Hook asked for your assistance My Lord." Megatron nods at the guard and gestures for her to lead the way.

Before he leaves though, he gives Starscream a pointed look. "Don't do anything idiotic."

When the doors close and Starscream is alone, Starscream resumes his frowning and scoffs.

"Idiotic..... More like he's the fool...."

-

Megatron was a little dumbfounded when he walked in on the med bay to discover a huge, chaotic mess. The doctors were picking up and sorting the fallen and broken tools on the floor, covered in blood. Sitting in the corner, are Knockout and another guard getting patched up. Though the guard looked in way worse shape, both arms out of commission and in bandages. "What in Primus' name happened here?" Knockout secures the end of his bandage and huffs, "What do you think? That mer's a fragging lunatic." He examined his finished work and mumbled under his breath, "Breakdown's not gonna be happy about this." 

Megatron was still very confused and frowned, "What did he do? Where is he?" Hook sighed and stepped in, taking over the explaning. "He's been moved to a more secure room where he can't hurt himself." Hook turned and gestured for Megatron to follow, and they swam away together, Megatron looked back at the room of a mess one last time before he leaves with Hook. "He did that?" Megatron asks" gesturing to the room. 

"When he came to, Knockout noticed him moving to take off his bandages, so he moved in to stop him. Though that caused a nasty reaction out of the mer. He turned, as Knockout suggested before you came, 'feral'."

They turned around corner where a few guards in the middle of their break sat and greeted the two.

"He tried to run away, scratching Knockout in the process and knocking basically everything over. We managed to corner him and a guard stepped in to make sure he'd stop running. Got bitten, scratched, hissed and snarled at instead. Both arms as you saw." They approached a guarded door and the guards standing stood in attention before unlocking and opening the door for them. "Poor guy," Hook mused, "his first week at work I think and he wound up getting both arms messed up, nothing serious though." 

They entered the room and stood by the bed in the middle of the room, and Megatron found before him a rather uncomfortable situation.

"We managed to sedate him and get him to calm down. But to make sure he didn't hurt himself or anyone else, we had to step up precaution."

The mer laid on the bed was covered head to tail in bandages, half his head wrapped up and preventing him from seeing, though Megatron could tell his was still asleep. But what disturbed Megatron was the heavy use of cloth binding the mer's arms to the frame of the bed and his tail as well. "Surely this is unnecessary, wouldn't that scare him, hurt him?" Megatron asks. "It will hurt him less than if he were without it, and its not the first time we've done it. We did it back in the war when we had to tie down mers who couldn't tell who was friend or foe and ready to dig a spoon in anyone. Most of them had to be isolated." Hook's assurance does not really ease Megatron's concern, but both kept to the silence of just observing.

"He said he didn't wanna die."

When Megatron doesn't respond outside of a frown, Hook continues, "Right before he slept. When I looked over his wounds, some didn't seem like they could have happened from rubble collapsing over him. His eye for example...He....." he pauses and scratches his neck, "He can't see through one eye anymore. Something scratched it off."

Megatron gritted his teeth and vented.

"How are we proceeding?" Megatron asks and Hook thinks on it for a while. "We obviously can't let him off unless he manages to calm down and listen to us willingly. Which is why I need to ask something of you My Lord," Hook explains and he turns to face Megatron, "While the other guards may have experience, I would be more comfortable about the safety of the mer if you were the one to talk him down. I will be here of course.... If you don't mind. It would really do us doctors a whole lot better if he weren't trying to kill us every time we change his bandages." Megatron barely hesitated and nodded, "I'd be willing to. Just don't expect it to work...." He was afterall, not a psychiatrist of sorts. Hook shrugged, "No worries, I just need him calm enough to allow us to handle him. Now we just have to wait for him to wake up."

-

Optimus roused from his sleep and blinked a few times. It seemed that his world was still black, so he tried again to remove what was blocking his vision. However, something stopped his arms from moving. He tried again, tugging his arms to no avail.

Slag.

Oh slag no, frag frag frag frag **frag** -

He tried pulling harder, using his whole body to try and get rid of the restraints, only to find out that his tail could not move. Tugging became trashing, and he felt a panic running through him again, close to crying. He needed to move, he needed to run! Get away from here now! Primus get these bindings off please-

"Stop trashing before you hurt yourself."

The low and even voice made Optimus freeze. He was not alone. Someone was in the room, but he did not know how many. He just knew there was at least one. And by the sound of it, a very very dangerous one. Slowly, he eased his trashing but that did not stop him from panicking, in fact, his breathing quickened and became heavier. He really was going to die.

A sigh escaped from the same lips of that voice, "If you must know, you're not going to die."

Optimus heard that pretty clearly, surprised. Was he not back in Cybertron? His panic did not let up. He swallowed and took the chance, and he opened his mouth, the words coming out in a throaty whisper, "Where am I?" The question followed a long silence, until the unknown mer responded, "You're in Kaon."

Kaon?? How on earth did he come that far?

"Who are you?" Optimus asked another, much more assertive this time hoping he would not break. This time the mer answered without hesitation. "I'm the King of Kaon. And I hope you Autobots still recall the name 'Megatron'."

Optimus' eyes widened, the name processing in his head.

Megatron, Leader of the Decepticon revolution, the one who waged war on Cybertron, took down armies single handedly, was the one to almost bring Cybertron to the brink of collapse, and if he so wished to, crush Optimus' head there and then with ease if he made one wrong move.

Optimus stills, and does not know what to say or ask. Espacially since he still wants his head intact.

Optimus picks up on someone shifting opposite of where he heard Megatron. "Someone else is here," Optimus speaks.

"Its just the doctor. To make that if anything happens, he can assist." Optimus settles for the answer, and picks on another long silence. He has calmed down considerably, ironic given the situation he is in. 

"Aren't you gonna kill me."

The voice scoffs. "And why would I."

"Autobot."

"If I wanted you dead, you would've already been long ago when we found you under the rubble."

Optimus recalls a fuzz of his memory, the faded figures of two mers approaching him when he was about to faint, and he remembers hearing himself call out to them. He mentally curses himself for being a fool. "Then why did you save me."

Megatron surprises himself with the question from the mer. Because truth to be told, he did not know either. Half of him thought about the way the mer cried out to them when they found him, the strong desire to live and the desperation. The other half truly did not know. "I don't know," Megatron answers honestly.

Megatron watches the mer carefully, aware of the fact that he had calmed down, but still on a high alert, though who could blame him. The mer had settled on another long stretch of silence, obviously confused and frightened by the situation put before him. He turns to Hook, looking for some sort of prompt to what he should do next, but Hook only makes a small gesture, to just get to the point. "May I at least know what your name is," Megatron tries. The mer only laid still, looking as if he's contemplating between giving him a name or not, but he gives him an answer either way, "Optimus-..... My name is Optimus." It seemed like he wanted to add something more on that name, but Optimus will do, so he does not push him.

"Optimus," Megatron repeats, "Here's the deal. You are in unstable condition, and for you to heal, you must stay under the care of my doctors and allow them to heal and take care of you. That means allowing them to change your bandages, touch your wounds and examine you, all while you behave and bite no one. Unless you wish to return to Cybertron of course. Even so, it'd be very unwise to choose the latter seeing where you are in right now." Optimus seems to think over the choice given to him, and Megatron adds on, "However, that means you can't leave Kaon. We can't trust that you would give away any information on us and on Kaon. You'll be on constant watch, be it with a Doctor, a guard, or me. And if you try anything, there will be consequences."

Megatron said the last part with a bit more threat to it in his voice, but honestly he did not know what he would do should it happen either.

Optimus thought on it, and it takes him a long while. To be fair, its a tough decision when your only two choices are staying in a foreign place with people that are supposedly your enemies, or going out into the open ocean with no way of getting back without dying out. It seemed that Optimus got the idea, as he gritted his teeth for a few seconds, frustrated. "Okay."

"Okay as in stay or leave?" Megatron asks, and he tries to not let it come out as snark. "I'll let you heal me," Optimus replies and that is enough for Megatron to know that he would not do anything stupid. Megatron gives a nod to Hook and he gladly takes over, getting up to swim over to Optimus, but he did not get too close to Optimus, and he speaks in a cool, collected tone. "My name is Hook, your doctor for now." The way he spoke suggested that he had done this many times before, "I'm going to untie you, and that means that I'll be touching you. Are you okay with that?"

Optimus is silent for a while, and then he nods slowly.

"And you won't do anything dangerous to yourself and us?"

He nods again.

Hook moves from where he's standing and approaches the mer, giving him one last reminder, "I'm going to untie the bindings, don't be alarmed." This time, Hook does not wait for a reply and gets to work, untying the bindings of his tail first. Optimus flinched at the touch, but outside of that, he does not stop Hook. Hook finishes with the binding on the tail and moves on to his arms, untying them with relative ease, and he removes the last of it.

Optimus moves his arms and tail, tired from the strain of it. He ghosts a hand over his other arm, feeling the bandages, he seemed more calm than confused, though Megatron does not know if he was truly as calm as he appeared to be. "Don't scratch at the bandages, or so much as touch any of your wounds. Most of them are stitched, and you'll reopen them if you're not careful. Only the doctors can touch them. Got it?" Optimus stays quiet, and then points to his face, "Can I remove the blindfold?"

Megatron knew the inevitability of where this be headed. Hook clicked his tongue and let out a sigh, "Not a blindfold. Bandage. You took quite a blow to your face." Hook is not one to hold back the truth, so he says it as it is, "Your eye got scratched out. It's in pretty bad shape, and it'll.... Complicate things."

Megatron is sure Optimus heard that very clearly, but he still looked like he does not understand what happened to him, more so still has not grasped the severity of what happened to his face. Megatron decides that he needs some time to himself, so he takes this time to announce his leave and Hook's, "We'll leave you alone for now, if you need Hook, call the guards outside, they'll get Hook for you-"

"Wait-" Optimus stops them, his hand reached towards them instinctively, but settles on the bed frame. Optimus seemed to have second thoughts, his mouth opening and closing as if thinking over some request he wanted of them.

"Can I see myself?"

Hook cocked a brow, "You can when we give you the next bandage change-"

"I want-.....I want to see myself."

Megatron glanced at Hook, who did so as well. Clearly this was not a casual request. And although Hook is strict with protocol, he allows this one to slide.

"I'll just take off the bandage on your arms and your head. The stitches, mesh and all won't be. And you can't touch them." Hook swims over while Megatron stays to watch. He proceeds to advise Optimus again about touching him and helps prop the mer up. He then begins to unwind the bandages carefully. Megatron does not flinch, so much as twitch an eye when the stitches and heavy scars reveal themselves, many still exposed under plastered mesh as another layer of protection. Finally, Hook gets to the face and begins to remove the bandage. Megatron is then reminded that this is the first time he is seeing the full features of this mer.

His face, slender and long, revealed a bright blue eye, staring at Hook first to register the mer in front of him. His face was speckled with hints of gold freckles over blue skin and with everything that had happened to him, he still looked youthful. His head fins open themselves out to air, flowing softly in the water. Megatron then noticed the patch of mesh covering his right eye, though it barely covers the long scar running across it and he frowns a bit at its implication. 

"I think we have a mirror somewhere," Hook mentions, gesturing at one of the drawers for Megatron to fetch. He swims over, not once taking his eyes off Optimus. Optimus seemed focused on his arms, both held up to get a better look as he observed the stitching. However, Optimus acknowledged Megatron when he moved past the corner of his eye, and he stared at him with an expression. Slightly wary, slightly curious and most of all, cautious. 

Megatron took the mirror from the drawer, a simple round glass and approached Optimus who seemed to only now realise just how big he was, and his fins subtly draw back. Both of them lock eyes, Optimus processing who he really was standing in front of him. Megatron pretends to not notice and he holds up the mirror to him, sounding casual. "Here." Optimus slowly takes the mirror from Megatron and stares at Megatron a bit longer before peeling his eye away from Megatron. 

Optimus held the mirror up to his face. As soon as he laid eyes on his reflection, his breath hitched, though soft. He stared at it, as if he was encountering a stranger. With one hand, he hovered it over the covered eye, but he stopped himself from touching it, unsure of what to do. "We did our best to patch it up," Hook explains, "But we couldn't do anything about the eye. What you see now, it will be how you see for the rest of your life." Optimus does not respond, only keeping to his stare between himself as Hook and Megatron watch. Both do not say a word. Hook was keeping it professional, while Megatron knew what loss would do to someone. He had talked plenty to mers who had lost many things during the war. Be it partners, families or even a part of their body.

Optimus places the mirror on his lap, though the clutch on the mirror does not loosen, and he still stares at the empty reflection. Hook carefully wraps the arms back in bandages, though he leaves the face alone. With a sigh, he backs away and gives Optimus his space, "Again, we'll leave you be. If you need help, tell the guards." They don't expect an answer, so Hook turns to leave with Megatron, Megatron following after.

"Thank you."

They pause and Megatron turns to glance at Optimus. He's still staring at the mirror, but Megatron heard him. Though Optimus probably could not see him, Megatron nods and they turn to leave the mer alone to his thoughts.

They hear a broken sob from the room, and Hook does not say anything about how it would ruin the mesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can bet Starscream's gonna be one of those mers with shit to say


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Minor Self harm, there's no bleeding but do be warned.

The eerie quietness of black surrounds Optimus, it almost sounds like a terrible nonexistent noise. He's been staring at it for a while, confused as to what is happening. He hoped he was not lost at sea, and even then, where was he headed to in the first place?

He takes a look around, though he did not know what he expected besides nothing. He decides that swimming out of here would be better than staying, so he turns to leave. Except he can't move. Something seemed to stop him from moving, and he tries again. But no matter what, the invisible force does not budge. It is as though he has been tied in an inescapable rope securing him to his place, as if he was stuck in a small room incapable of turning. He tries to call for some form of help, but nothing comes out of his throat.

"-ur fa...."

The whisper softly spoke from nothing. Optimus turned to where he thought the voice was coming from, but it was empty. He attempts to call again, but the calls in succession fail. He desperately grabs onto his neck, trying to choke out a sound, but nothing. 

"Your fault."

Optimus' eyes widened, jerking his head up to find its source. 

"Your fault."

He knows where he's heard that from. "What is-"

"Your fault."

"What are you-"

"Your fault."

"No- Stop, I don't-"

"Your fault."

"Stop. Please just-"

"Your fault." "Your fault."

"Your fault." "Your **fault." "Your fault."**

"No, I- stop. STOP. WHAT-"

**"Your fault." "Your fault." "Your fault."**

**"Your fault." "Your fault."**

**"Your fault."**

**"Your fault."**

"STOP, PLEASE **STOP-** "

His breathing becomes erratic, the beginnings of a panic attack overcoming him and he slams his fists at the wall, begging them to stop, let him go. His hands cup over his audials, desperately trying to keep the voices out, but they keep digging him, into his skin and audials. The skin on his face prickles with unbearable heat and Optimus moves a claw over to scratch it, to make it go away. But no matter how much he scratches, the burn stays. He keeps scratching, clawing at his skin with both claws damnming the heat away. Until he hears a sickening pop.

He lowers his hands from his face, and a little white ball sits on his palm. Optimus can only stare at it, unable to process what it is. Until it turns.

An iris turns to stare back at him, dilated and alive. It pierces right through him, reading his every thoughts and horrible deeds, eating him. It whispers retribution, punishment for his sins, and it claws at his very being. Optimus feels his hands tremble, unable to drop the eyeball despite himself screaming to let it go.

A feminine voice seeps into his audials like venom.

"This is your divine retribution."

A claw digs itself out from its iris, and it grabs Optimus' face.

Optimus jerked from his sleep, a strained gasp of horror escaping his lips. His body strains under the sudden movement and sends a sharp pain through the body, making him wince. He bites his lips, not wanting to alert the guards outside. He really does not want to explain that he screamed from a nightmare. 

The voice continues to taunt him outside of his dream and mock him. He feels the same compression he felt when the world in his nightmare collapsed onto him, a panicked breathing rising out of him. He immediately grabs onto his wrist and squeezes it, trying to find some way to make the feeling go away. He internally begs for him to stop, using his thumb to rub the skin.

Fortunately for Optimus, the repetition of thumb on skin and the almost strangling grip on his arm roots him in place, and slowly, he is able to get his breathing under control, although not fully. He no longer finds his chest burning and he can no longer hear any voices or whispers. The details of the dream have long faded, leaving a ghost of a hand grabbing his face.

Optimus moves a hand over the mesh on his eye, able to feel the presence of it. He breathes a small sigh of relief to himself.

Optimus recalls the familiar voice, right at the end, whispering something sinister to him. He quietly wonders if she really felt that way. Though he thinks he probably deserved it. Maybe the eye was his retribution. "Sorry..... I'm-... I'm really sorry..." Optimus whispers, rubbing a hand over his good eye in frustration, holding back a sob. But no one is there to forgive him. 

He heaves a heavy sigh and settles back into his bed. All he can do now is stare at a blank ceiling, waiting for the time to past, or until he fell asleep. Even then, he fears falling back to the terrifying nightmare.

He stares into the eerie quietness of black.

-

In the following days, Optimus only knew of the room he laid in. He remembers the minute details of his room, from the specks on the walls to the drawers and just which one has been disturbed (if they were ever disturbed....) He recalls the timing of the guard rotations and just which mer enjoys slacking and which mer was gossiping, though he does not eavesdrop on them. The only glances he can get of outside was through the open door when someone came in. He knows that no matter the shift, there are always at least two guards outside. And they were bigger than him. So he knew better than to run away, or attempt an escape. Besides, even if he was desperate, he could not move his tail without feeling some pain.

Most of the time, it was Hook that came in. Hook was not much of a talker. He only said what needed to be said and did the usual he had done for the past three days, check on him, inquire about how he was feeling, change the bandages and mesh, and give him something to eat. Which was fine by Optimus.

Knockout on the other hand, was different.

Hook had left him under the care of Knockout today. Something about a few matters he needed to attend to. He was a bit taken aback when Knockout had burst into his room, angrily complaining about something to the guard outside before shutting the door. The complete opposite of Hook. Didn't mean it wasn't manageable

"Sure you won't start biting?" Knockout asked, an accusatory glare at Optimus. Apparantly, Optimus was told that Knockout's arm was the result of him rampaging when he first woke up in Kaon. He still had yet to apologise about it. Optimus glanced at the long gash that had healed over. "Sorry about that... Does it still hurt?" Knockout waved a hand at him and sat beside him, a fresh roll of bandages in the other. "Not as much as it did the first day. You bite like the devil. And apology accepted." Knockout held out an open palm and Optimus rested his arm on it, allowing Knockout to unwrap the bandages. "And the other mer...?" Optimus inquired, to which Knockout chuckled and shrugged, "He'll be fine, guards have tougher skin. Besides, think of it as a lesson for him to learn for future accidents."

He got rid of the last of the bandages and Optimus looked at his scars. The stitches still stayed, recalling Hook telling him that the stitches would only be removed in a weeks time. But it looked like they were starting to heal up considerably, leaving behind pink. "You know my conjux wasn't too happy about what you did to me, skin's pretty delicate and all," Knockout spoke, keeping up a conversation, "but I know you didn't mean to." Optimus watched as Knockout looked over the stitches, making sure none were loose or frayed, and got to work with the new bandages. "I wasn't in the right mind, so it was mostly on instinct..... I won't be doing that again," Optimus explained and Knockout huffed in reply, "Better not." 

He finished up with the other arm and discarded of the used bandages, before looking at Optimus. "I know Hook got rid of the head bandages yesterday and checked on it, but it would do no harm to check on it again. Would it be alright for you?" Knockout asked, aware of how sensitive it would be for someone to get close and touch his face. Optimus, however, trusted the expert, and gave him permission, nodding his head. Knockout leaned in and carefully tugged onto the mesh, pulling it off gently from Optimus' eye and got the whole thing out.

Optimus blinked, feeling the other eye blinking along, but it felt strange. He only noticed it yesterday when Hook take away his bandage, but did not think to ask Hook about it. He swears both eyes are open, but it feels different like he should be seeing something, but it looks fine. "Looks fine to me. No pus or anything, and the wound is healing. Just don't disturb it and it should be fine by itself within two weeks," Knockout assures and proceeds to put the mesh back before cleaning up. Optimus does not really want to disturb Knockout with a question even he does not know how to ask, then again, this was probably important if he wanted to get better in his current situation....

"Something bothering you?" Knockout asks, bringing Optimus back from his internal thinking, to which Optimus lets out a small noise of confusion. "You're frowning." Knockout gives Optimus a pointed look, and Optimus decided that it would be best to not hold it in. "Knockout, can I ask you something? I'm not sure if I can explain it though..." Optimus asks, feeling a bit idiotic, but Knockout turns his attention back to Optimus and nods, "Try me."

Optimus thinks on the words to use. "I only noticed it yesterday. I understand that I can still see. But it feels.... Weird? I looked around and everything still seems normal, but I feel as if something's missing. I-I mean- I know it's the eye, but it's confusing to understand or explain it..... I just don't know what I'm seeing wrong..." Optimus tried to use his hand gestured to explain but it comes off looking weird, and he is a bit embarrassed by that. Knockout however, is as patient as patient could be and seems to think otherwise. He taps a claw under his chin, thinking over what Optimus has said and he reaches a conclusion. 

"I think I know what you mean. You're not used to what you're able to see now." When Optimus gives Knockout a confused look, Knockout explains further, "Okay. Here's what you need to know. There is the peripheral vision, and there is the binocular field. The binocular field is what your eye sees clearly, in front of you. And peripheral vision is what you can notice from the side, like if you notice someone's about to bump into you from the side. Normally, the angle of peripheral and binocular field would be this wide," Knockout held out both his arms and opened it in an v shaped angle against each other, "However, the lose of an eye means that this angle has become smaller, and depending on which eye, you loose more of the vision and field on one side, in this case, your right." Knockout moved both his arms closer to each other, showing a smaller angle. "It's like.... Ah-... From here, I can see the bowl on the counter on my left from the corner of my eye, but say if I loose my left eye, "Knockout covers a hand over the left eye, "Can't see it." 

Knockout returns to his cleaning and picks up his stuff, "You'll get used to it. You'll probably bump into a few walls here and there, but it shouldn't heavily affect your everyday life after you heal." Optimus does not say a thing, or ask any further. He only takes in the information dump and slowly nods to it. "Thanks..... I know my question wasn't.... Specific." Knockout shrugs and picks his stuff up. "Eh, I know bout this stuff. My conjux lost an eye too." Optimus widens his eyes, a bit curious, "Your... Conjux?" Knockout lets out a chuckle and smiles, "Big guy lost his eye in a fight, had trouble too! He would swim and slam into walls, it was definitely a terrible time for him, but he got better at getting around. Maybe when Megatron let's you run around, you both could meet."

Optimus thinks on his offer, though he cannot say for sure if he would ever be allowed to leave this room. Surely Megatron wouldn't just lock him in here forever and keep him prisoner... Would he? Then again, he never did show up after that to talk about the situation. "Don't think I even know what Megatron is going to do with me." Optimus confesses and the medic laughs, "Well, better hope he doesn't make you his pet!" Optimus frowns at the idea, but when he tries to get Knockout to explain it, he has already left, leaving Optimus alone to his own devices. 

The other downside to being stuck in here is that no one tells him anything, and he cannot find anything out for himself (Then again, what was he going to do? Swim up to some mer and pummel him for answers?). Optimus decides that he has had enough of just staying still. If he was going to be stuck in this room, he might as well should try getting around in it first, and he would rather do something else than stare at the ceiling.

Optimus sits up easily, already regaining some strength in his upper body. The real test is if could balance himself one he is out of the bed. Carefully, he slides his tail over to the side of the bed, moving it around for a bit. He is pretty sure three days on the bed would have strained his tail. When he feels ready to get up, Optimus lets out a deep breath, preparing himself for the big step (or in this case, swim). He grips onto the bed frame and pushes himself up, tail off the bed and standing up with relative ease. "Wasn't so bad..." Optimus mutters to himself, albeit surprised he has enough strength to do it. Slowly, he lets go of the bed frame and he is successfully balancing himself, managing a stand. He finds himself smiling with a little pride, rewarding himself with a good stretch and he has never felt better since the accident. Maybe he could swim forward a few inches!

He moves a small millimeter forward and he finds himself face first on the ground.

"....ow ow ow ow ow-"

At least it didn't hurt that much.

Optimus props himself up slowly with an arm and feels the numbing pain in his tail, clearly not used to the stress of not being used for some time. He probably leaned in too much and threw himself off balance, but it was all the more proof that he was not strong enough to properly swim. This was very very troublesome for a mer who disliked staying too long in an unfamiliar place. With a frustrated sigh, he tries to will himself back to standing, but he ends up trembling, tail un-moving. All he is capable of doing is lifting his upper body.

Optimus suddenly hears the door to his room open and he stills, both from the uncertainty of who it is, and the fact that they will definitely see him on the floor in such a state. Quickly, he tries to push himself back up. "I-I'm not escaping I swear-" Optimus stutters. A low chuckle responds to him. "That's what an escapee would say if he were trying to." Optimus tilts his head up and he meets the eyes of the mer.

Grey scales, heavy scars, and red eyes.

"I really wasn't, Megatron...." Optimus mutters, taking in the big mer before him. When he first met him, he was too busy concerning himself with his eye. But now that he was on the ground right in front of Megatron, he was intimidating. Tall and dangerous looking, with sharp fins to add and decorated scars. He looked like a veteran, which was to be expected from someone who been through the war. The only difference was that he had a large sword slung to his side, attached to a secured sling that displayed the Decepticon crest on his chest. Optimus tried not to swallow.

"Do you need help?" Megatron asked, mindful of his space between the both of them. "No," Optimus replies quickly, and tries again to get up, but his body does not budge. The movement of Megatron gets Optimus to look back up, watching as Megatron bends down and holds a hand up towards him. "Last chance." Optimus stares at the hand, clearly reluctant and very embarrassed by the idea of it. But it was between getting lifted by the enemy, or staying on the floor making embarrassing attempts to get up while he watched. With a sigh and a swallow of pride, he grab onto Megatron's hand and directs his focus to getting up.

Megatron easily provides Optimus support to lift himself up and helps him get to his bed, letting him go when Optimus is sitting back on the bed properly. Trying his best to not look flustered, he mumbles a word of thanks.

"So... What brings you here?" Optimus asks. Truthfully, he had a small idea of why he came. The big mer sat down beside him, crossing his arms as he did so. Somehow, he still managed a terrifying stature. "I hadn't had a chance to talk to you since our last meeting. Being a Lord keeps you busy," Megatron answers with a matter-of-factly tone, "I've been wondering what on primus I should do with you." Optimus stares at him, waiting for some explanation he was going to give as to why he is stuck here, but nothing comes out of him. "You're the one who wanted me here, don't you have a clue?" Optimus snarks, though he himself knows that probably was not the best thing to do, but he had been stuck in here for a frustratingly long time in his standards. By a Decepticon Warlord no less, he at least wanted to blow off a bit of steam.

Megatron, thank Primus, does not take it to heart, though he takes it as an opportunity to snark back, "And what do you think I'm going to do to you?" That takes Optimus aback, because he suddenly recalls the weird off-handed remark by Knockout before he left, and he is left flushed. "Err.....keep me as a pet...?" Optimus mumbles, praying that Megatron did not hear him, but the expression Megatron gives him totally gives it away. "And what made you think that?" Primus this was embarrassing.... "Knockout...?"

Megatron lets out an amused snort and covers a hand over his mouth, as if he let it out on instinct. "That bastard.... No, I'm not keeping anyone as a pet. Primus below, that's just weird.... Unless you're into it." Optimus lets out an squeak and raises both hands. "NO!" Another laugh from Megatron and it leaves him feeling like an idiot.

"Truth be told, while I have every intention of making sure you don't leave Kaon, it'll make more problems for us. If you hadn't noticed, food supplies' low. You've been given less than required to heal, even for a small mer like you," Megatron explains. "I did. I just assumed the way you do things was different than in Cybertron...." Optimus in fact, wanted to ask about the amount of food he was given, but felt it was definitely stepping out of the line given the 'hospitality'.

"Anyway I can help?" Optimus asks. "And what makes you, an enemy, and injured at that, qualified to help out?" Megatron asks, raising a brow, "besides, I"m not allowed to give up sensitive information to you if that's what you're asking off me." Optimus ponders on it, and comes up with an equally logical reply, "Doesn't have to be sensitive information. Just ask." When Megatron does not respond outside of a thoughtful look, Optimus presses, "Look, if I'm going to be stuck in Kaon, I at least don't want to starve to death here. And I've been further Cybertron and possibly Kaon borders, I know what's out there."

Optimus shrugs, "You saved my life.... And that means I owe you. Let me at least do that." Megatron ponders on it a bit longer, and then relents, "Since you know things.... Tell me, are there any places that have good catches. Preferably not in Cybertronian territory...."

Optimus flips through a few places in mind, until he recalls one. "Further up North. I remember the land mark on map, we called it Current Point." Megatron tilts his head inquisitively, "We?" Optimus smiles a bit, "Back on Cybertron, I had a team. We would travel the sea outside of Cybertron to find things. Like structures, places with good resource value and hunting grounds. Most of the time we'd do our own thing though. And we managed to come across Current Point. The catch there was good. The fish were big and plentiful. The problem was that they would hide in a sort of....place. There's this strong current that none of us could push through and not even our biggest and strongest one. One of my teammates speculated that it led to a hidden sea bed. So while the fish there were good, it was hard to access so we just left it at that." Optimus found it relieving that he could still recall the memory, though he found himself missing his team.

Megatron let out a thoughtful hum, and then inquired, "How did it look like?" Optimus answers without the need for thought, "It had a tall white stoned structure with a hole in through, whole place covered in grass. And there's this huge chasm, right across a tunnel. It's where the current is." Megatron nodded, confirming a suspicion, "Never heard of it...." He gets up from where he is seated without breaking eye contact, "I'll consult my team about this, and see where we go from there. I thank you for offering a solution despite the situation." Optimus did not really think about that, and he tells it honestly, "I just don't want to die starving when I just escaped death."

Megatron's gaze falls on Optimus' own scars, and the feeling of self conciousness rises in him, trying to not let it show. "Are you feeling any better?" Megatron asks. "All things considered, the scars don't really hurt anymore.... I can at least sit up." Megatron pauses for a while, as if thinking on something. "You have a strong will. Should something happen.... I believe you will pull through." Optimus blinks, able to recall something similar being said to him. He thinks back on Archa 7 and sighs, muttering, "I don't believe that for a second."

Optimus does not know if Megatron heard him, but if he did, he does not say a word. He's grateful for that.


End file.
